Portland Fire & Rescue responds to NE Sandy apartment complex for complicated water problem

PORTLAND FIRE & RESCUE RESPONDS TO NE SANDY APARTMENT COMPLEX FOR COMPLICATED WATER PROBLEM

News Release from Portland Fire & Rescue
Posted on FlashAlert: December 10th, 2013 5:10 PM

PF&R crews have encountered hundreds of water related issues since the beginning of this inclement weather spell. At 2:47pm today PF&R responded to an apartment complex, Heights at Columbia Knoll Apartments @8320 NE Sandy, for a possible apartment fire. When crews arrived they found that an apparent water problem had caused an electrical issue with an apartment heater. It appears as if a broken water pipe (most likely weather related) leaked water behind the drywall and made contact with the electric heating unit causing an electrical issue which produced smoke and an odor that alerted residents. When PF&R crews arrived they found that building staff had begun evacuating many of the predominately elderly residents. Fire crews actually moved residents back in doors fearing that the outdoor temperature would have caused an even bigger problem and health risk to the residents. Fire crews worked for close to two hours in order to mitigate the smoke, electrical and water problem.

**Despite the increase call volumes, PF&R crews have worked diligently to make sure that fire resources stay available to deal with any life threatening issues in their response areas. While preservation of property is a mission of PF&R, Fire resources will always be diverted from these water damage calls if a life threatening emergency is pending.

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